Using propensity score matching method (PSM) to evaluate the feasibility and clinical outcomes of simultaneous modulated accelerated radiation therapy (SMART) using helical tomotherapy (HT) in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).
Du et al BMC Cancer (2017) 17:582 DOI 10.1186/s12885-017-3581-1 RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access Propensity score matching analysis of a phase II study on simultaneous modulated accelerated radiation therapy using helical tomotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinomas Lei Du1,2†, Xin-Xin Zhang3†, Lin-Chun Feng1, Bao-Lin Qu1, Jing Chen1, Jun Yang4, Hai-Xia Liu5, Shou-Ping Xu1, Chuan-Bin Xie1 and Lin Ma1* Abstract Background: Using propensity score matching method (PSM) to evaluate the feasibility and clinical outcomes of simultaneous modulated accelerated radiation therapy (SMART) using helical tomotherapy (HT) in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) Methods: Between August 2007 and January 2016, 381 newly diagnosed NPC patients using HT were enrolled in pre-PSM cohort, including 161 cases in a prospective phase II study (P67.5 study, with a prescription dose of 67.5Gy in 30 fractions to the primary tumour and positive lymph nodes) and 220 cases in a retrospective study (P70 study, with a prescription dose of 70Gy in 33 fractions to the primary tumour and positive lymph nodes) Acute and late toxicities were assessed according to the established RTOG/EORTC criteria and Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) V 3.0 Survival rate were assessed with Kaplan-Meier method, log-rank test and Cox regression Results: After matching, 148 sub-pairs of 296 patients were generated in post-PSM cohort The incidence of grade 3–4 leukopenia, thrombocytopenia and anemia in the P67.5 group was significantly higher than in the P70 study, but no significant different was found in other acute toxicities or late toxicities between the two groups The median followup was 33 months in the P67.5 and P70 group, ranging 12–54 months and 6–58 months, respectively No significant differences in 3-year local-regional recurrence free survival (LRRFS), distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS), disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were observed between the groups Univariate analysis showed that age, T stage, clinical stage were the main factors effecting survival Cox proportional hazards model showed that 67.5Gy/30F pattern seemed superior in 3-year OS (HR = 0.476, 95% CI: 0.236-0.957) Conclusions: Through increasing fraction dose and shortening treatment time, the P67.5 study achieved excellent short-term outcomes and potential clinical benefits, with acceptable acute and late toxicities Trial registration: The trial was registered at Chinese Clinical Trial Registry on July 2014 with a registration code of ChiCTRONC-14,004,895 Keywords: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma, Intensity-modulated radiation therapy, Dose fractionation, Propensity score matching, Survival * Correspondence: malinpharm@sina.com † Equal contributors Department of Radiation Oncology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, 28 Fuxing Road, Beijing 100853, China Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © The Author(s) 2017 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated Du et al BMC Cancer (2017) 17:582 Background Currently, simultaneous modulated accelerated radiation therapy (SMART) is the most widely used intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) pattern in the treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinomas (NPC) [1] SMART can simultaneously delivery different doses to different targets and improve local control rate (LCR) through increasing fraction dose in the primary tumour and metastatic nodes and shortening the overall treatment time (OTT) to reduce post-process accelerated repopulation of tumour cells Some studies have confirmed that SMART using Helical TomoTherapy (HT) system has significant dosimetric advantages in the treatment of NPC [2, 3] More than 600 NPC patients have been treated with HT system at our centre Based on previous 70Gy/33F pattern, we conducted in September 2011 a prospective phase II study, P67.5 study, with a prescription dose of 67.5Gy in 30 fractions to the primary tumour and positive lymph nodes [4] Due to increased fraction dose and shortened OTT, the corrected biological effective dose (BED) to the primary tumour and positive lymph nodes increased from 62Gy to 62.9Gy, while that to late reaction tissues (LRTs) decreased from 99.7Gy to 97.9Gy (α/β = 5Gy), which could theoretically improve local control rate while reducing radiation injury The study was approved by the research ethics board of the Chinese PLA General Hospital with an official number of S2014-048-01, and with a registration code of ChiCTRONC-14,004,895 To confirm the safety and feasibility of the P67.5 study, we retrospectively analyzed the data of our previous P70 study with a prescription dose of 70Gy in 33 fractions to the primary tumour and positive lymph nodes and used propensity score matching method (PSM) [5] to screen the cases and exclude the impact of confounding factors Methods Patient’s characteristics From August 2007 to January 2014, 381 newly diagnosed non-metastatic NPC patients treated by HT were registered in our centre, and among them 161 cases in P67.5 study and 220 cases in P70 study Patients’ characteristics should be met the following conditions: Pathological confirmed squamous cell carcinoma; World Health Organization (WHO) types I and II; Karnofsky performance status (KPS) ≥70 All patients experienced nasopharyngeal and skull base magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), endoscopic evaluation, chest CT, neck and abdomen ultrasound, and bone scanning Positron emission tomography (PET) was optional Clinical stage was practiced according to the Union Internationale Contre le Cancer (UICC) 2002 staging system Propensity score matching (PSM) Excluding the patients affected by non-disease factors, we ultimately selected 374 cases, of whom 158 cases in Page of 11 P67.5 study and 216 cases in P70 study The PSM method was used to control the balance between the two groups and there were five covariates in the score scale including gender, age, T stage, N stage and clinical stage According to the 1: ratio, logistic regression and the nearest matching pattern were also used and 148 sub-pairs of 296 patients were generated Helical tomotherapy (HT) Plain and enhanced CT images scan for treatment planning were the same in both groups using Brilliance TM CT Big Bore and the images were transmitted to the Pinnacle3 8.0 workstation and fused According to ICRU 50 and 62 reports, Gross target volume of primary tumor (GTVnx) and metastatic lymph nodes (GTVnd) were respectively defined as the visible tumor and involved nodes The pGTVnx was obtained by expanding the corresponding GTVnx with a margin of 3–5 mm while limited by the brainstem, spinal cord, optic chiasma and optic nerve The pGTVnd was the GTVnd with an expansion of mm Clinical target volume (CTV1) covered nasopharynx, high-risk local structures (i.e., skull base, clivus, parapharyngeal space, retropharyngeal lymph nodes, sphenoid sinus, sphenomaxillary fossa, posterior part of the nasal cavity and maxillary sinus, and oropharynx), as well as positive lymph nodes and nodes at level IB (when nodes at level IIA were involved), level II and superior part of VA Clinical target volume (CTV2) included lymph nodes at level Ш, IV, VB and inferior part of VA as a prophylactic irradiated volume Planning target volume1 (PTV1) and (PTV2) were generated with a mm margin of CTV1 and CTV2 at least mm from skin Enhanced MRI or PET images were used as a guide for target contours In P67.5 study, prescription dose was delivered to pGTVnx and pGTVnd at 67.5Gy (2.25Gy per fraction), PTV1 at 60Gy (2Gy per fraction) and PTV2 at 54Gy (1.8Gy per fraction) in 30 fractions In P70 study, prescription dose was delivered to pGTVnx and pGTVnd at 70Gy (2.12Gy per fraction), PTV1 at 60Gy (1.82Gy per fraction) and PTV2 at 54-56Gy (1.63-1.70Gy per fraction) in 33 fractions Details of plan designing and dose-volume constraints for organs at risk (OARs) referred to our previous articles [4, 6] In both groups, HT plans were made by the same group of physicists with the same plan parameters using TomoTherapy® Planning Station Chemotherapy and anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody (Mab) treatment Based on existing clinical evidence, radiation therapy with concurrent platinum-based chemotherapy were used as standard treatment for locally advanced NPC patients A total of 201 patients (67.9%) underwent concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT), of whom 128 (86.5%) in P67.5 study and 73 (49.3%) in P70 study Concurrent chemotherapy Du et al BMC Cancer (2017) 17:582 Page of 11 included two patterns: 1) cisplatin 80 mg/m2, d1, every weeks; 2) cisplatin 60 mg/m2 and docetaxel 60 mg/m2, d1, every weeks Chemotherapy doses and cycles were slightly adjusted according to the adverse reactions Many studies especially in high incidence areas have proved the value of anti-EGFR Mab treatment in NPC patients [7–9] As early as 2010, the Chinese Version of Clinical Practice Guidelines in NPC added concurrent anti-EGFR Mab treatment as an option for T1 N1-3 and T2-T4 with any N patients In our study, 117 cases underwent anti-EGFR Mab treatment, of whom 54 (36.5%) in P67.5 study and 63 (42.6%) in P70 study (cetuximab with a loading dose of 400 mg/m2 and then 250 mg/m2 or nimotuzumab 200 mg, d1, every week) In addition to CCRT, induction chemotherapy (ICT) and adjuvant chemotherapy (ACT) were both recommended for locally advanced NPC patients Based on characteristics of patients, disease staging, and tolerance for the treatment with the principle of no more than cycles of total chemotherapy, ICT and/or ACT were individualized used for the patients The specific use of chemotherapy and anti-EGFR Mab treatment were shown in Table Statistical analyses and follow-up Acute and late toxicities were assessed according to the established Radiation Therapy Oncology Group and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (RTOG/EORTC) criteria and part of late toxicities referred to Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) v3.0 at the same time The follow-up started at the first day of radiation therapy and ended on January 2016, with a median follow-up of 33 months (6–58 months) and a follow-up rate of 100% Standardized differences were estimated for all baseline covariates before and after matching In the matched data, dose comparisons were performed using T test and Table Chemotherapy and anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody (Mab) treatment Chemotherapy P67.5 P70 anti-EGFR Mab treatment anti-EGFR Mab treatment Total toxicities in both groups were compared with Pearson χ2 test Survival rates were assessed using the KaplanMeier method The Log-rank test and the Cox proportional hazards model were used to identify prognostic factors independently associated with survival and to estimate hazard ratios (HR) Two-sided p values of